Afuri Karakurenai Shinjuku Subnade — Restaurant in Tokyo

Let me start by saying this is my favourite meal on earth. I know this is a bold statement considering it’s not something you’d find on some must try list or Michelin guide, but to me it just checks all the boxes for satisfying everything I want from a meal. I’ve been here 5 times on two separate trips to Japan, each time making me depressed this doesn’t exist in Vancouver, Canada (there is a regular afuri ramen shop but it tastes like garbage). Everything about this ramen is perfect to me: the spice profile, consistency of the broth, texture of the noodles, tasty and soft roast pork with chicken to complement it, and the unique taste of yuzu that hits you at the end. This is obviously very subjective, but to me this is the only meal that I call perfect. If you love spicy ramen you must try this spot, and even if you aren’t a spicy fan I’d still recommend just choosing 1 on this spice level and giving it a shot. I’d also recommend trying the yuzu lassi which acts as an excellent companion to the spice of the ramen. Other positives are little to no wait time, nice and open layout of the ramen bar, polite staff, and easy to access being at...

Afuri Karakurenai Shinjuku Subnade is located at Subnade building B1F. People can find this restaurant easily cause of Its bright red color design.

After we bought the ramen and drink tickets from the machine, we handed the tickets to the friendly staff. There are 8 spice levels and the super extreme spice level that you can choose from. We ordered Yuzu Kara Kurenai ramen spicy 1290 yen (mild spicy level 1,2, 3) Don’t really want to challenge our stomachs with too spicy ramen.

We were escorted to the counter seats and ordered Yogurt drink w yuzu (430 yen each). We found that this yummy yogurt drink complimented the spicy ramen perfectly.

The chefs cooked the ramen in front of us. We enjoyed watching the the chefs focus cooking the ramen at the kitchen. The spicy broth was perfectly complemented by the sourish yuzu flavour.

If you want to try spicy ramen other than the usual shio ramen (salt ramen), shoyu ramen (soy sauce ramen), or miso ramen (fermented bean paste ramen), wakayama ramen, ramyeon ramen, tonkotsu ramen, then Afuri Spicy ramen will be ...

Very close by from the Shinjuku station! You order off the machine then give your receipt to the staff at the table, swift and easy. They’re very kind too. Take a seat at the counter, put on your bib to prevent stains, and chow down.

This ramen is definitely one of my favs now. The tangy citrus flavor from the yuzu complements so well with the spicy broth. But I do admit this is more of an acquired taste, the slight bitter aftertaste from the yuzu might not be for everyone.

You can also choose the spice level which goes up to 8, and then there’s the super extreme level. I chose 7. Beware, because it is ACTUALLY spicy. Don’t be overconfident of your spice tolerance like me and end up downing yogurt drinks to numb the pain lol. On another note their yuzu drink was super yummy and refreshing, highly recommend the beverage with the ramen.

If you have room in your stomach, would recommend ordering a side rice bowl with pork too. The pork is soooo tender, mixed with the mayo and veggies, it...